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Last year, Cadbury made the bold - some might say foolhardy - decision to change the recipe for its iconic Creme Eggs. It caused a bit of a stink and made some consumers question what was going on at their favourite chocolate company. Here, Harry Wallop, who is presenting Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches: Secrets of Cadbury’, reviews the controversial changes Mondelez has made to the iconic chocolate company it bought six years ago.

1. Factory closure

A worker walks past Bournville factory in BirminghamCredit:
Reuters

Back in 2010, Kraft’s £11.5 billion hostile takeover of Cadbury sparked controversy. But some were won over by the American company’s “sincere belief” it would reverse a decision by Cadbury to close a key factory at Somerdale, near Bristol. Within weeks of the takeover going through, Kraft announced it was going to close the factory. Four hundred jobs were lost.

2. Changing the chocolate on the Cadbury Creme Egg

Creme Eggs being made at the Cadbury factory in Bourneville in Birmingham

To many, the Creme Egg is 177kcal of pure gloopy grossness, containing palm fat and paprika colouring. But to lovers of this strange Easter treat invented in 1971, it is a large mouthful of gooey joy. And should not be messed with.

In 2015, Cadbury confirmed that it would replace the very popular Cadbury Dairy Milk shell, with one made from a standard cocoa mix. They said they were in fact reverting back to the original 1971 recipe, and consumers prefered the original recipe. Many were unconvinced.

3. Ditching chocolate coins

The company argued that it was not very profitable part of their business – after all, supermarkets and even pound shops sell their own (cheaper) versions. But many consumers love the taste of Dairy Milk. These fans wanted Cadbury coins, not Tesco or Marks and Spencer ones.

4. Rounding the corners on a Dairy Milk

Cadbury Dairy Milk's corners have now been rounded

Dairy Milk chocolate is a bar. It has chunks, you snap off those chunks, you pop those chunks in your mouth. Yum.

It is a formula that has served confectionery companies for decades and Cadbury since 1905. But Mondelez just couldn't stop themselves from fiddling with Cadbury's most famous product. They "rounded" the corners to improve the "mouth feel" of the chocolate. A spokesman said: "This undoubtedly helps improve the melt-in-the-mouth experience and feedback from consumers has been extremely positive."

He failed to add that the new bars had been shrunk from 49g to 45g.

5. Making Dairy milk in Poland.

After the Somerdale factory closure, Kraft’s top brass were summoned to Parliament. Irene Rosenfeld, the Kraft CEO, did not come. She said it was not “the best use of her personal time”. But Trevor Bond President of Kraft Foods Europe, did come. He was asked: “Will Cadbury’s Dairy Milk continue to be produced in the UK?”. He said “yes”. He was then asked for how long. He answered: “For as long as our consumers are delighted by the taste and the product we produce”.

'Dispatches discovered a number of Dairy Milk bars, including the small 95 calorie one, the 41g bar of Dairy Milk Oreos and the 47g bar of Dairy Milk Creations, are made in Poland'

Six years on, Dairy Milk continues to be produced at Bournville, which the company describe as “the home and heart of Cadbury”. But Dispatches discovered a number of Dairy Milk bars, including the small 95 calorie one, the 41g bar of Dairy Milk Oreos and the 47g bar of Dairy Milk Creations, are made in Poland. This is particularly galling as Cadbury likes to flaunt its Britishness. It even sells large 850g gift bars of Dairy Milk festooned with the Union Jack at Duty Free shops at UK airports. But on the back, it clearly says: made in Poland.

6. Putting Cadbury in Philadelphia cream cheese

No, no, no. When Kraft took over, how we all joked about how they'd put chocolate in processed cheese. It turns out, it was no joke. Cadbury Philadelphia is a thing.

The company describes it as an "irresistible spread for toast or bagels and a dreamy dip for fruit or oatey biscuits". It isn't. It is a cheesy version of Nutella. Next stop: putting Ritz salty crackers in a Dairy Milk.

7. Ritz crackers in a Dairy Milk

No, really. This isn’t a joke either. Cadbury now appears to favour one strategy when it comes to innovation: putting Mondelez products into a Dairy Milk bar. So there is now Dairy Milk Oreos, Dairy Milk Daim (that’s what the old Dime bar is now called), Dairy Milk with Lu biscuits and Dairy Milk with Ritz salty crackers.

8. Ditching the Bournville chocolate from the Heroes tub

Back in 2013, the parent company altered what went into a tub of Heroes, a selection box that highlights its key chocolate bars. It ditched Bournville – not only one of its oldest brands, but one that pays homage to the great Birmingham home of Cadbury – in favour of Toblerone, one of the Mondelez brands. And Swiss, to boot.

At the time Angus Kennedy, editor of Kennedy’s Confection magazine,told the Daily Mail: "To replace Bourneville with Toblerone is unpatriotic. It’s like replacing the fish in fish and chips with mussels."

A spokesman for Mondelez insisted Toblerone was only a "guest" during Christmas. But the Bournville bar is still missing.

9. Axing Christmas chocolate gift to pensioners

One of the perks of working for Cadbury, one of the great ethical Victorian firms set up by Quakers, was that you were looked after in retirement. Long-term former employees were given a gift of chocolates at Christmas. Not much, admittedly, but a small recognition of their years of service. Up to 14,000 would get these parcels.

Mondelez scrapped the gifts, claiming it needed the money to help plug the company's pension black hole.

One pensioner, Ray Woods, who worked at the Bournville factory in Birmingham for 36 years until 2004, said: "The cost of this cutback is peanuts. To link it with plugging the gap in the deficit in the pension fund is laughable.

"(The parcels were) a way of somebody taking the trouble to say 'you worked for Cadbury for a long time.'

"It's tinged with sadness for me, and I think that a lot of people will think the same way.”

10. Shrinking pack sizes

It’s not just the Dairy Milk bars that have shrunk in size.

Last year it seemed that Cadbury chocolate Fingers had gone on a diet. Packs of the much loved biscuits were cut by 11g, which equates to around two fingers. But that’s not the only one. A big tin of Roses chocolates seems to get smaller every year – but not with a corresponding shrinkage in price. Back in 2011 it went from 975g to 850g. Then in 2014 it went to 777g. By 2015 it had fallen to 748g.

'A big tin of Roses chocolates seems to get smaller every year'

The company say it only sets a recommended retail price, and it’s up to the supermarkets what price they sell it at. That’s true, but doesn’t help consumers who always seem to have to pay £5 for this shrinking tin.

11. Roses ‘flow wrap’ packaging

While we’re on Roses, just look what has happened to the wrappers. Since the 1920s, the Christmas box of Roses have contained sweets packaged in a twist of brightly coloured shiny paper. Part of the festive tradition was digging into the box looking for your favourite hazelnut swirl, then untwisting the wrapper to get your reward. But in 2015, the company ditched this method in favour of “flow wraps”, the packaging jargon for wrappers with a jagged end that you tear open. It’s the sort of wrapper you find on mints in a bowl at the reception desk at cheap European hotels.

12. Sultanas in Fruit & Nut

Raisins have been the dry fruit of choice in a Fruit & Nut bar for 90 years. At the end of 2015 sultanas were added “to add more variation”. Could the fact that sultanas are cheaper than raisins have anything to do with it? Perish the thought.

13. Is Fair Trade still at heart of Cadbury’s mission?

It was a big, pioneering move to make Dairy Milk Fair Trade in 2009. Just before the takeover, the then chief executive, Todd Stitzer said: “Our goal is ultimately to make all our chocolate bars fair trade.”

Only a few Cadbury bars are Fair TradeCredit:
PA

Dairy Milk continues to be Fair Trade, and buttons and hot chocolate have been converted. But not the Dairy Milk with added biscuits. And none of the other non-Dairy Milk chocolate bars. The Dairy Milk Easter Eggs on sale during 2016 are not Fair Trade.

Hershey, Ferrero and Mars have pledged to make all their chocolate Fair Trade by 2020, but Mondelez says says setting deadlines won't lead to meaningful impact on the ground. It says it is instead focusing on its own Cocoa Life sustainability program, launched in 2012 with a $400 million investment with the aim of helping 200,000 cocoa farmers by 2022. But this scheme does not guarantee the other ingredients, such as nuts or sugar, are responsibly sourced.